Flashback
by Coilerfan35
Summary: Being bloodbent by Tarrlok brought memories back to Lin...memories of her mother, weak and barely living after being turned into Yakone's puppet. Lin/MommaToph love, as well as Linzin.


**An: I'm pretty sure this fic is terribly written...but I can't focus entirely with my mind being swamped with Korra-feels. Enjoy nonetheless!**

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Her job was done.

Korra was safe, her men were returned to their families, and the kids were all returned to Air Temple Island.

Her job was done, so she returned home.

She was sore, and barely managed to walk to her house before a sharp pain stabbed into her side and she collapsed against the door. Pushing it open, she held onto her ribs and stumbled forward until she could lean on a nearby table; her chest heaving for breath. The combination of her injuries from the attack under the mansion, as well as Tarrlok's bloodbending had torn her body to pieces, and she was sure that once she removed her armor and looked at her side, it would be molted with bruises.

Grunting, she extended her arms, and punched away from her to send the metal pieces covering her arms flying across the room. Pulling her hands back, her chest piece fell away, and without much effort, all of her armor fell to the ground with loud clangs. Looking down at her stomach, she pulled the tight white tank top up and grimaced as her entire side was turning a sickening color of purple.

She had seen bruises like these before...but only once.

"_Mom!" the tiny voice was music to her ears, even though she sounded so terrified._

"_It's alright, kiddo," Toph whispered, turning her head and letting her arm fall so her daughter could hold on to her fingers. "I'll be fine."_

"_What happened?" Lin asked, tightly gripping her mother's hand, while her tear-laden emerald eyes stared up at the Avatar carrying her._

"_Something happened at the trial," Aang said, frowning, as he looked down at Toph's tired, hazy eyes. "Something that will never happen again. Don't worry, little one, your mom will be alright."_

"_Lin, honey," her mother muttered, removing her hand from Lin's tiny grasp, and letting her fingers settle on her daughter's soft cheek. "Will you do me a favor? Will you make some of the tea your grandpa Iroh sent us?"_

_Without speaking, the little girl nodded and she gently placed her hand against her mother's wrist; closing her eyes and she felling the weak pulse pushing through her veins. Worried, she looked up at Aang, who tried his best to give her a reassuring smile._

"_Katara is on her way, Lin. She'll be fine."_

But she wasn't fine...not for close to a week. Lin had never seen her mother that weak, and that entire time she was terrified. That week she didn't leave her mother's side, and would refuse to move unless she was asked to bring something to aid healing Toph. She didn't eat, she barely drank, all she did was sleep with her ear to her mother's chest; hoping that when she woke up, she would still hear the beating of her heart.

"_Tenzin...what are you doing here?" Aang asked, turning to see his youngest child sailing towards him on his glider. "You and your siblings were supposed to stay on the island."_

"_I wanna see Lin," the nine-year-old demanded, with a tone that was far different than his usual stoic and calm nature. "I know something is wrong that you aren't telling me, and I'm not going to sit by and wait anymore."_

"_You don't need to see what has happened, Tenzin. Not yet," his father said, his eyes closing momentarily. "Lin is fine...now please...go home."_

"_No," he argued, speaking against his father for the first time in his life. "I won't go until I see her. She's my friend, and I care about her. When I see that she's okay, then I'll leave, but not until then."_

"_Fine," the Avatar sighed, resting his hand on his child's bald head. "But please, don't ask questions..."_

_Slightly confused, the airbender child nodded, and followed his father into the Beifong mansion. An eerie silence had fallen over the interior, and Tenzin felt his heart pulsing wildly as he walked close to his father's leg, and looked around for some sign of life. He didn't see Lin anywhere, but once Aang stopped in front of a closed door, he knew she would be in there._

_Sighing, he opened the door, and peered inside to see his mother leaning over Toph. Her hands were encased with water, and a light blue glow emanated from her touch as she tried her best to heal the injured earthbender. A sad sigh left her lips as Katara returned the water to the bucket at her feet, and Tenzin frowned when his mom looked at him with eyes that had long since faded from blue._

"_Tenzin," Katara muttered, looking up to see Aang standing behind him. "What is he doing here?"_

"_He wanted to see Lin," Aang said, pushing the door open, so the little airbender could see the object of his affections sitting at her mother's hip; drawing absent symbols into the palm of Toph's hand. Lin looked over her shoulder, and smiled softly, but returned her attention to her mother's hand without saying a word._

"_We'll talk about this later," the waterbender sighed, nodding to her son and motioning to Lin. Nervously, Tenzin walked in, and he waited until his mother and father left before he walked closer and stood at the side of the large bed._

"_Hi," he whispered quietly, looking at his feet before he looked up and noticed the sadness written on her face._

"_Hi," she responded in kind._

"_How are you?" _

"_Fine..."_

"_You don't sound fine," he said, crawling onto the bed, and sitting in front of the little earthbending girl. "I know you're worried, and I know you're scared...but everything is going to be alright."_

"_How do you know?" Lin asked, her fingers once again finding solace over the pulse in her mother's wrist. "She's been asleep for days. She hasn't woken up, and everyone around me looks so sad and hopeless. How do you know that everything will be alright if no one else does?"_

"_Your mom is strong," Tenzin said, looking over and noticing that Toph looked much weaker lying helplessly in her bed. "And nothing would happen to her without a fight. She has too much to live for, and a hard head on top of that. She'll be fine. She just needs time to recover."_

"_I'm so scared," Lin whispered, her head ducking in an attempt to hide the tears that were falling down her cheeks. "I'm so scared that she'll never wake up again, Tenzin."_

"_Hey," he muttered, reaching forward and placing his hand on hers. She looked up at him, and instantly threw herself forward, curling against her friend as he tightly circled her in his arms. A frown touched his pale lips as he felt her body shake, and tears of his own started to form as the sound of her soft sobs touched his ears. "You don't need to be scared...I'm here."_

Sliding into a nearby chair, Lin cried out as she felt the pain returning and could see her world fading to black. She panted and shook her head, a feeling of hurt and resentment swelling in her chest as she wished Tenzin was with her now. She attempted to push herself to her feet, but only fell forward onto her knees; one of her hands cradling her bruised side, while the other fought to hold her up. A bright light flashed in front of her, and numbness fell over her entire body before her arm gave out, and consciousness left her entirely.

"_Mommy!"_

_It was the first thing she heard when she came to. Her lips parted, her throat was parched, and she couldn't speak. Her eyes blinked, but as usual, all she saw was black. Her fingers twitched, and she felt something soft in her palm. Closing her fingers around the object in her hand, she felt a strong heartbeat that she could recognize from miles away._

_Weakly, her hand rose and she slid her fingers into Lin's soft hair. She pulled her daughter closer, and sighed as the little one fell into her; her head nestled into her mother's neck. Toph tightened her grasp around the little girl as much as possible; tears falling from her blind eyes to match the tears that she felt sliding down her neck._

"_I was so scared, mommy," she whispered, sniffling softly. "I thought you weren't going to wake up."_

"_I was scared too, kiddo," Toph sighed, closing her eyes and grimacing as she relived the horrors of being possessed by Yakone._

"_You were scared?" Lin asked, a whole new sense of dread falling over her as she imagined her usually strong and brave mother reduced to terrified version of herself._

"_Yeah," she answered, squeezing Lin even tighter. "I was scared that I wouldn't come home...that I wouldn't see you again-"_

"_You can't see me in the first place."_

"_You know what I mean," Toph laughed, settling her hand on Lin's back, and closing her eyes as the feeling of her heartbeat flooded her vision. "I'm sure the bad guy who did this to me wanted me to be in worse shape than I am. I suppose the jokes on him."_

"_No one messes with a Beifong...right mom?"_

"_That's right kid, and don't you ever forget it."_

She awoke to the feeling of two strong arms encircling her. The stabbing in her side had subsided, but her head still felt fuzzy, and most of her vision was black. She blinked, and groaned quietly; feeling the two arms lifting her into the air. She saw a tattoo, a bald head, silver eyes, and her eyes closed as she whispered out "Aang?"

"No," was all she heard Tenzin reply, and it was enough to calm her. She leaned into his chest, and groaned as the lingering pain flared all throughout her body. "Tarrlok must have done something to you...caused your blood to cut your veins. All of us were there, but he focused on you the most...you are his biggest threat after all. He wanted you dead."

"Yakone," she whispered, feeling the softness of her mattress touch her back. "Is he Tarrlok's father?"

"Yes," Tenzin assured, pulling the sheet over Lin before he sat down by her side. "Korra was able to decipher what Aang has been trying to tell her. He was trying to warn her of Tarrlok's bloodbending ability, and his relation to Yakone...but we won't have to worry about him anymore."

"Amon," Lin muttered, turning her head to the side and chuckling softly. "Well...at least he's managed to do something good for this city."

"Lin..."

"I know you probably pity the poor bastard," she said, reaching out and grasping onto Tenzin's robes. "And sure...maybe I would too if he wasn't such a prick, but he got what he deserved, as will Amon. No one messes with a Beifong."

Smiling, Tenzin tenderly brushed a fallen strand of hair from her face and let the backs of his fingers slide down her cheek. "Get some sleep," he whispered, letting his thumb brush against her jaw. "You'll feel better once you rest."


End file.
